Hill Air Force Base defends handling of mercury #AirForce #News

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/04/ap-hill-air-force-base-defends-handling-mercury-040112/ Hill Air Force Base defends handling of mercury The Associated Press Posted : Sunday Apr 1, 2012 16:47:40 EDT SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Hill Air Force Base is defending its response after mercury was discovered hidden in unmarked plastic bottles on the base last fall. Robert Elliott, chief of the base’s environmental management division, said the base went above and beyond ordinary requirements to clean up the mercury. But the base could face millions in fines after a whistleblower last fall told regulators that base officials failed to report a 2007 mercury spill and instead ordered untrained workers to remove the hazardous material with vacuum cleaners. The mercury had leaked from discarded boiler parts. Elliott told The Salt Lake Tribune that he responded Thursday by letter t...